A Light In The Horizon

I've just realised the song from the HSBC adverts... The Universal by Blur! Fantaaaaastic!

Tonight was awful. Nothing stupidly bad happened, it was just incredibly long and busy which is the worst combination in retail. The Wall was his usual slow self and things nearly got slightly too much.. I hold on however, due to a conversation I had, admittedly 45 minutes after I was due to leave..

You see, the store manager was the manager of choice for the morning so he took forever to show us through our faults, (or show The Wall his faults), and so by the time it was eventually time to leave, nearest makes no difference, 7pm, The Wall ran off. My opportunity had come. For the whole night I had deliberated having a serious word with the Store Manager about this guy and I am very happy to report that I plucked up the courage. You must all understand that this is a large step for me. The old me would have bottled it up and got on with it, but I am proud to have plucked up the courage to seriously discuss this with the Boss. "Can I have a word please, Chris" , "Certainly."

I was already 45 minutes late leaving, but at this moment I didn't care. Chris locked the door and I sat down, business like. For 25 minutes we discussed the problems and the potential consequences and although I didn't hear exactly what I wanted to hear, I heard a very bright response and an understanding one. This is the best response I could of got. He said not what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear and he also mentioned that he regretted employing him and that he had failed his probation period, whereas I had passed. He has 3 months to prove that he has learnt, and if he hasn't, then his time is up. That is the impression I got, although it wasn't spelt out for me, and this is a good step. Maybe I will be rid of him soon..

He also said something else. Something that I really wasn't expecting to hear. Towards the end of this conversation he said he was "proud of my mental strength and resolve in this very difficult situation". Me? Mentally weak and frail me, praised for the complete opposite. I realised at that moment that I may well have changed for good. Leaving behind the depression days and the times I bottled up before exploding, almost like yesterday's Lucozade. Letting loose my frustrations by talking to people about it... Instead of writing it in some blog and snapping after it all gets too much... I'm very happy I plucked up the courage to talk to him..

It doesn't change the fact that tonight is probably going to be more of the same, if not, busier, but one thing I do know, is that I have the management on my side. And he's not lasting very long..

Other news, I'm playing golf later with AK, Colin and Mario which is a good warm-up for Sussex and it's due to be another day of Mediterranean weather which equals fantastic times! Admittedly back to running into the wall in the evening but, tonight, I took my first steps to running straight through it.

Cya x